


Aim for the Heart

by emerald1963



Series: Aim for the Heart 'Verse [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Angst and Fluff, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, I swear they're going to get together eventually bear with me, M/M, Slow Burn, the "graphic depictions of violence" tag refers only to violence within nightmares
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-22
Updated: 2018-01-19
Packaged: 2018-10-22 11:17:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10695909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emerald1963/pseuds/emerald1963
Summary: Niles’s second shot lands only inches away from his first, but just outside the center this time. Takumi smirks to himself; Niles has given him an opening. He clears his mind and lets everything else fall away, focusing only on forming his bowstring and arrow-“You’ve got talented hands, for sure, shooting that well. I’d like to see what else you could do with them.”In which Niles challenges Takumi to an archery contest and his mouth subsequently almost gets him murdered. Keeping the peace between Nohr and Hoshido is a lot harder than they bargained for... or is it?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Things this fic was supposed to be:  
> -A one-shot  
> -About 3k total  
> -Out in time for [@leokuminiles](https://twitter.com/leokuminiles)'s birthday three months ago  
> -Not me just heaping pain on Takumi
> 
> Things this fic is not:  
> -Literally any of those
> 
> This is my first foray into Fire Emblem fic writing in general and Takuniles in particular, and I really hope everyone enjoys it- this is a small fandom (there are probably like eight Takuniles fans total) but a really really awesome one! (Alice, I hope you in particular enjoy it, because this is still your birthday fic even if it's literally three months late and all of it has been written with the intention of writing something you would enjoy. I also apologize from stealing a few lines wholesale from our RPs, but your Niles is just so perfect that I couldn't resist. I love you very very much my Nyalice <3 <3 <3 <3 <3)

There’s a certain calm Takumi finds at target practice, something that’s all-too-often absent from his daily life. Manifesting Fujin Yumi’s bowstring and arrows takes all of his concentration and willpower, so there’s none left for thinking of other, less pleasant things. Things like how just a year ago he was safe at home with his family, and now he’s motherless, following a sister he barely knows and still could never live up to into battle, and forced to cooperate with people who until just now were bent on killing him and the rest of his nation. But with his hands clutching the familiar material of Fujin Yumi, the bitterness and the anxieties fade, his world narrowing to the target far in front of him and the soft “thunk” as his magical arrow hits its mark. He might go so far as to call it peace.

That is, until an unknown hand clasps his shoulder. 

Takumi jumps, his hand falling from the bowstring, which disintegrates as he turns to face his visitor. His brow wrinkles in involuntary disgust, the remnant of a lifetime of fear, as he sees that it’s a Nohrian. It’s one of Prince Leo’s retainers, the one with the eyepatch- he thinks his name might begin with an N, but he wouldn’t bet any money on it. What does this man want with him?

The man inclines his head in what could be taken as a bow, but there’s certainly no respect in his one sharp eye. “Prince Takumi. I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure of being introduced?”

Takumi shakes his head, trying to find something to say other than _why are you talking to me?_ “Um, no, I don’t think so.”

“Niles.” Ah, so _that’s_ his name. “I’m Lord Leo’s retainer. I’ve heard you two have been getting pretty cozy lately?”

Takumi turns red. “I don’t know what you’re implying-”

“Ah, with that pretty little blush of yours, I think you know _exactly_ what I’m implying.” Niles grins, slow and a little predatory. 

“-but Prince Leo and I are just friends,” Takumi continues stubbornly. It’s true, although he’s surprised that they’re even that. It turns out, though, that Prince Leo’s a lot like him, and they’ve been nurturing a fragile friendship these past few weeks. It’s almost enough to make Takumi think that Nohrians as a whole aren’t as bad as they’ve been painted.

This particular Nohrian, though…

Takumi’s eyes narrow in annoyance. “If you’re here to, I don’t know, defend his honor, you can turn around right now and leave me in peace. I _was_ practicing.”

Niles smirks. “Trust me, if I were here to defend Lord Leo, you’d be on the ground already. No, today I’m up to something a little more- extracurricular.”

“Extracurricular?” Takumi definitely doesn’t like the sound of that.

“I was wondering if you were up for a competition.” 

“A competition?” Takumi’s uncomfortably aware that he sounds like an echo, but he can’t think what else to say. Who does this guy think he is, challenging the second prince of Hoshido? Challenging him to _what?_

Niles holds up the object he’s been carrying at his side, and Takumi can see now that it’s a bow. “You’re an archer, I’m an archer. I thought we could have a little test of skill.”

“You really think you can beat me?” Maybe he should be exercising a little tact here- he knows too well he’s not unbeatable- but _really_. Takumi laughs disbelievingly. “You’re on, then.”

“Huh, you’re as arrogant as they say. We’ll see if I can make you eat those words.” Niles gives him a measuring stare and then stretches his arms up into the air, limbering himself up for the contest. Takumi fumes.

They decide on five shots as a fair contest, with the arrows in the target (or the slightly blackened spots where Fujin Yumi’s arrows hit) as the only judges they need. Niles fires a few arrows to warm up, and Takumi finds himself grudgingly impressed by the other man’s form. Clearly he’s practiced a lot, although maybe not as much as Takumi has. This should be an interesting challenge. 

Niles fires first, his arrow falling just inside the plate-sized circle that marks the center of the target. Takumi raises an eyebrow. Niles really is better than he expected- although he guesses he should have figured that someone as competent as Prince Leo would have equally competent retainers. Takumi’s own shot is even better, though, hitting nearly at the exact center.

Niles’s second shot lands only inches away from his first, but just outside the center this time. Takumi smirks to himself- Niles has given him an opening. He clears his mind and lets everything else fall away, focusing only on forming his bowstring and arrow-

“You’ve got talented hands, for sure, shooting that well. I’d like to see what else you could do with them.”

Takumi’s concentration snaps in a moment of indignation and his arrow soars wide of the mark, still hitting the target but closer to the edge than the center. “What do you mean by that?!”

“Use your imagination, if you’ve got room for anything besides an ego in that pretty little head of yours.” Niles fires off his third shot with barely any preparation, landing a clean hit to the center of the target.

Takumi feels like he must be burning holes through Niles with his eyes, although Niles doesn’t seem to notice. “I do NOT have an ego, or a ‘pretty little head’!”

Niles raises an eyebrow. “Really? I seem to remember you laughing at the thought of me beating you, and yet here we are. And I’d call myself a pretty good judge of pretty faces, and yours is prettier than most. A shame it’s much more attractive when you’re not talking.”

Fujin Yumi’s string flickers and disappears right as Takumi is about to fire- it’s impossible to concentrate on the target with the rage behind his eyes blurring his vision. The only thing he can really think about is how Niles would look with a few extra holes through him. _Focus,_ he tells himself, _clear your mind, don’t give that asshole the satisfaction-_

“Of course, I could think of a few ways to fix that. They say gags are the hot new trend nowadays,” Niles continues casually.

“ARGH!” Takumi yells in frustration as the arrow he’s finally managed to conjure up flies wide yet again, barely even clipping the edge of the target this time.

Niles snickers, practically in his ear. “So you’re the type to crack under pressure, huh? What a disappointment. I expected more from a prince of Hoshido. Are all of you like this?”

“HEY.” Takumi was ready to let the gag comment slide if he had to, but if this piece of scum is going to insult him and his family, there’s no way his honor could let him stay silent. “The Hoshidan royal family and our retainers are trained in combat from the finest teachers from the time we start to walk. We don’t need to resort to _dirty tricks-_ ” he glares even harder at Niles- “to win.”

“Oh, so it’s just you who’s this pathetic,” Niles responds. He fires off his fourth arrow in the breath between one sentence and the next, hitting the target dead center, and Takumi wonders somewhere beneath the fury that’s consuming his mind whether Niles was purposely shooting less than perfectly earlier just to toy with him. “What must the rest of your family think of you? You’ve had a charmed life, all the advantages in the world, all the training you could ever want, even a magical weapon at your side, and you still can’t beat a one-eyed street rat. If I were them, I’d be ashamed.”

_I already KNOW they’re ashamed of me I KNOW I’m the worst of them shut up shut up shut UP-_ the conscious part of Takumi doesn’t even register that he’s manifested the bowstring until his arm is already drawn back, bow pointing directly at Niles’s chest. “Say that again,” he growls, not even recognizing the sound of his own voice.

The corner of Niles’s mouth twitches up. “Well, I know when I’m not wanted. And I thought we were getting along so well, too. Oh well, I think the contest has already been decided anyway.” He gestures at the target, with Niles’s arrows clustered neatly around the center and Takumi’s scattered scorchmarks.

“What is _wrong_ with you?” Takumi asks, infuriated even more, if it’s possible, by the fact that Niles doesn’t look scared in the slightest, even with an arrow pointing at his heart.

“I could make a list, but it might take me a few weeks to write it all down.” Niles turns on his heel, preparing to leave. “You should probably get back to practicing. You could use it.”

Like _hell_ if Takumi will let this asshole have the last word. “HEY!” he screams after him, dropping Fujin Yumi to his side. “Maybe I am a disappointment, but at least I don’t have to resort to- to tearing other people down to feel better about my pathetic little life!”

Niles stops, turns, and looks back at him with an unreadable expression, but Takumi doesn’t care. He makes his own dramatic exit before Niles can, storming through the small crowd of people that’s gathered to watch them- wait, when did they get here?- and in no particular direction, as long as it’s away. He pauses by a stream just outside camp, splashing his face with water and slowly coming down from his adrenaline high. 

He’s starting to get a sickening guilty feeling in his stomach. Gods, he just almost shot a Nohrian, almost completely shattered the fragile peace between the Nohrian and Hoshidan forces that Corrin and his other siblings have been working so hard to strengthen. What would have happened to their battle against a common enemy if a prince of Hoshido had murdered one of the personal retainers of a prince of Nohr? What would have happened to _him_? And there was a crowd back there- how many of them saw him being totally humiliated and responding by trying to kill his rival?

Takumi puts his face in his hands and groans. Awful as he is, Niles is right about everything, isn’t he? Takumi had cracked ridiculously quickly in the face of Niles’s taunts. His siblings would be ashamed of him- they probably are already, since news travels fast in camp. He’ll never be anything but a disappointment. He squeezes his eyes shut and prays that by the time he gets back to camp, everyone will have forgotten what happened and he won’t have to deal with the aftermath. And while he’s at it, it would be nice if Niles falls into a deep pit while Takumi is away. Maybe one with spikes.

 

\-----

 

The summons from Ryoma comes not even two hours later. Takumi’s been pacing nervously in his tent for most of that time, waiting for the axe to fall, but it still hurts when he’s called to see his brother so soon. Ryoma’s schedule is incredibly busy most days, planning and advising Corrin as she builds her army. Takumi wonders if he caused such a scene that Ryoma had to clear his schedule just to deal with him. Shame wars with anger within him- he shouldn’t have been so weak, but none of this would have happened in the first place if Niles hadn’t showed up and decided on a whim to emotionally break him.

Ryoma’s sitting when Takumi enters his tent, looking at supply records. He looks up at Takumi, and Takumi feels a hot flush creep onto his cheeks as he bows and sits cross-legged across the table from Ryoma.

“Takumi. I heard what happened.” Ryoma cuts straight to the point as always.

“...I’m sorry, brother. But that Nohrian- he was insulting our family, I had to defend our honor-” Takumi hears his tone of voice as if from outside and cuts himself off. He sounds like a whiny child, trying to get out of trouble because “he started it!” He presses his lips together instead, dreading the inevitable disappointment on Ryoma’s face.

Ryoma sighs, sounding like a concerned father, and it infuriates Takumi and chastises him at the same time. “I understand, I really do. In your situation, I would have been tempted to pull my sword on the man as well. But… Takumi, times aren’t as they were. Nohrians and Hoshidans are working together against a bigger enemy now, and we need every ounce of fellow feeling we can get.” Ryoma doesn’t need to say _we don’t need a Hoshidan prince trying to kill a Nohrian royal retainer in broad daylight-_ Takumi can hear it anyway, and a sullen heat creeps across his ears. “It’s been hard for me to adjust to as well,” Ryoma continues, “but in a situation like this, that fellow feeling is more important even than our personal honor.”

“I know,” Takumi mutters. “I messed up.” He hates being talked to like this, like he’s still a child, but maybe he deserves it when he can’t stop _acting_ like a child.

Ryoma takes a deep breath. “You’re a strong person, brother, but it’s all too easy for you to let your emotions run away with you. I’d like to see you work on keeping them under control, especially in times this tense. I know it’s not easy, but I have faith that you can achieve it.” It hurts to hear, and it hurts even more that Ryoma’s softening it so much, being so gentle about it. Does he think Takumi couldn’t even handle being called a weakling?

“I know,” Takumi repeats. “I’m sorry, Ryoma.” There’s a sick feeling coiled in the pit of his stomach, and he wants nothing more than to be anywhere but here. Well, what he really wants is to be having this conversation with his mother instead of Ryoma. She would know how to help him be less of a failure. But it’s not like that’s possible now. “Is there anything I can do to fix this?” he asks. 

“Apologizing to Prince Leo’s retainer would help.”

“No way, I shouldn’t have to-”

There’s that look of slight disappointment he’s been waiting for. Takumi flinches and stops speaking.

“Takumi, as unsatisfying as it is, sometimes it’s important to be the bigger man.” 

Takumi bites his lip and looks away. “All right. Fine. I will. Soon.” It galls him as he remembers that infuriating glint in Niles’s eye, how he was practically getting off on humiliating Takumi in public- but Ryoma is still his commander as well as his older brother, even if Corrin is the head of the army, and if being the bigger man will help Hoshido, then he’ll grit his teeth and do it. “I’m sorry I’m such an embarrassment.”

Ryoma’s face darkens with concern. “You’re not an embarrassment, Takumi. Don’t believe that of yourself. You made a mistake, but we’ve all made mistakes before. It’s really all right.”

“Whatever,” Takumi mumbles, suddenly lacking the energy to argue with his brother about this. “I should probably let you get back to work, right? I’m sure you have more important things to be doing.” He stands up quickly, ready to make his escape.

“Well, that was all I wanted to say to you, except-” Ryoma pauses, worry intensifying on his face. “Would you like me to talk to Prince Leo about the behavior of his retainer? You shouldn’t have done what you did, but he should never have been antagonizing you like that. If you’d like, I can have a conversation with Prince Leo about it.”

“It’s fine, I can deal with it myself,” Takumi says quickly, having absolutely no intention to actually deal with it- he’d rather never have to think about Niles again- but just wanting to get out of this conversation as soon as humanly possible. 

“Well, all right, if you’re sure, but-”

“I’ll see you later, Ryoma. I promise I’ll apologize to him,” Takumi says, already most of the way to the exit. Maybe it’s rude to leave so quickly, but he can’t take Ryoma’s pity any longer. It’s better that he leave- then neither of them will have to think about this any longer.

 

\-----

 

Of course, he keeps thinking about it anyway, and it chases him even into his sleep. In his dreams, Niles is there at the archery range, taunting him as he tries in vain to form the bowstring on Fujin Yumi. The bow cuts into his fingers like a sword, his blood dripping onto the dirt below him, and no matter how hard he calls to it, the string refuses to spring into existence.

_“Look at you”,_ the Niles of his dreams drawls, a nasty smile forming on his face. _“No wonder even your blessed bow doesn’t want you anymore. Everything you do just makes it more obvious what a pathetic mess you are, don’t you see? It’s a good thing no one gives you any attention as it is- if they saw how you really are, they’d leave even sooner.”_

_“No, please,”_ Takumi pleads, struggling with his bow until he feels its sharp edges slice through his own bone, _“give me another chance. I can get it, I’m strong enough to wield this, I could beat you any day if you didn’t cheat.”_

_"As if,”_ Niles scoffs. _“Do you really think you can beat anyone? I could destroy you as easily as- well, as easily as this,”_ and faster than Takumi can even flinch away, he aims and fires his bow directly at Takumi.

The arrow passes through his eye, and Takumi drops to the ground, screaming, half of his vision exploding into red and then nothingness. He tries desperately to pull the arrow out, clawing at his own eye with ruined fingers that are too close to severed to respond to any of his commands. And Niles stands over him, laughing and laughing. 

_“It really is too bad to destroy that pretty face,”_ he comments, crouching down and cupping Takumi’s face in his hand, blood streaming down his arm from Takumi’s eye socket. _“But I guess the world isn’t losing much, after all.”_

Takumi wakes with a faint scream, burying his head in his pillow to try to muffle the sounds once he realizes what’s going on. He’s thankful that his retainers don’t sleep close enough to him to be woken up by the noises he makes in his sleep- he doesn’t want to bother anyone else with them, especially not as frequently as they happen. (The only person he ever would bother was Mikoto, sometimes, after a particularly bad one, but… well. Not anymore.) He lies stiff on his futon for a few minutes, trying to shake off the phantom pain in his eye and the still-too-clear images from the dream so he can get back to sleep, then sighs in disgust and gives up. Clearly, sleep’s not coming for a while. He’ll have to get by on a little less sleep today; it’s far from the first time, and he’s more or less learned to deal with it.

He goes for a walk instead of sleeping, patrolling the perimeter of the camp. Everything looks reassuringly peaceful in the moonlight, and the world is sleeping save the few guards who are meant to be on patrol. The peace helps to remind him that his dream was only a dream, as horrible as it was- Fujin Yumi hasn’t deserted him (not yet, anyway) and he’s still got his eye and all his fingers in working order. 

As he passes near a small clearing at the edge of the camp, Takumi is surprised to see a figure sitting there, staring up at the sky. Who else could possibly be up at this time? It’s long after midnight yet so far before dawn that even those who like to get their days started early should still be asleep. Takumi approaches whoever it is, curious and wondering if maybe a little human company might chase away the shreds of the nightmare. Then the figure comes into focus. Takumi sees a head of white hair, turned away from him and nearly glowing in the moonlight, and an adventurer’s cloak. _It’s him._ He pauses, hovering on the edge of the clearing. He’d promised Ryoma that he would apologize, and maybe now would be a good time- at least they’d be guaranteed not to have anyone else run into them and cause an awkward scene. But just as he makes up his mind to approach, the voice of the dream Niles echoes in his head, and the phantom pain stabs his eye socket where Niles’s arrow passed through it.

Takumi turns on his heel and walks away, trying not to run. _It can wait._


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Takumi finds himself almost subconsciously avoiding the places where he thinks Niles might be- the archery range, the clearing where he’d seen him the night before, even any of Prince Leo’s usual haunts. He trains his martial arts skills instead of archery, hoping that enough exercise will tire him out and make him forget both yesterday and last night. It doesn’t work, of course. At the end of a few hours, he’s exhausted, but the anxiety in the pit of his stomach has only grown. The longer he waits to go find Niles, the more nervous he gets about how long he’s avoided it, but the more nervous he gets at the idea of actually standing in front of him and apologizing. 

_Are you a prince or not?_ he scolds himself as he strides through camp. _All you have to do is go up to him and say “sorry” and then you can avoid him for the rest of your life if you want to-_

“Ah, Prince Takumi. I’ve been looking for you.” 

Takumi blinks and stops walking just in time to keep him from running into- oh, it’s Niles. Of course it is. He takes a deep breath and looks around; they’re in a fairly crowded area of the camp, near where the food is prepared. There are small groups of servants running around everywhere. All right, they can do this now, then. Just- not here. 

Takumi grabs Niles by the sleeve and pulls him into a small corridor between two tents instead. This is much better, shielded from prying eyes. Here he won’t lose too much of his dignity.

Niles raises an eyebrow. “Can’t wait to get me alone, hmm? Did you bring along a shorter-range weapon today? I don’t see that Yumi of yours.”

“What?” Niles’s train of thought is clearly so far away from Takumi’s that he can’t manage to wrap his head around what the other man means.

“Well, if you’re planning to kill me, I know a few better places than this for us to go. Much more…” Niles’s smile edges towards a leer. “Privacy.”

Takumi heaves out an exasperated breath. _Don’t take the bait._ “No, that’s not it. I- I wanted to apologize to you.” The words feel like burrs in his throat, fighting not to be let out, but Takumi forces them out anyway. “My conduct yesterday was- not befitting a warrior of Hoshido. I shouldn’t have threatened you like that, or said what I said. I’m… sorry.” There, now he’s kept his promise to Ryoma, at least. All he has to do is get through this exchange without coming to blows with Niles.

“That’s a relief. I was looking for you to apologize as well, actually.”

“What?” Takumi blurts, eyebrows shooting up. “You’re actually sorry?” This certainly isn’t what he expected, considering that Niles seemed perfectly happy yesterday to wander in and tear him apart when they’d never even met.

“Believe it or not, I do have a conscience, sometimes.” The other man’s mouth quirks up in the corners, like this is something he’s had to say before. “And what you said to me yesterday was true. I do tear others down to feel better about myself.”

“You’re actually admitting it?” 

“If I pride myself on one thing, it’s admitting to my many, many flaws,” Niles says smoothly. “I was born in Nohr’s slums and had to see and do some awful things to survive. To see someone who was born with a silver spoon in their mouth walking around and flaunting it without a care in their head… Well, it’s tough to resist the urge to make them taste a little of the suffering I’ve known.”

“I have plenty of cares in my head,” Takumi spits, stung. 

“I know, and that’s why I’m apologizing,” Niles says. “When I met you, I thought you were just an arrogant little princeling, so I tried to bring you down to my level. But then I remembered the circumstances that brought you here, and I realized that wasn’t fair to you. You’ve been through enough. You didn’t need me to make it worse.”

“Ah.” Takumi tilts his head in surprise. This isn’t really the kind of apology he would have anticipated, but it’s unexpectedly sincere. The teasing bite that’s suffused Niles’s voice has dropped away, replaced with a slightly rueful seriousness. He’s still an asshole, Takumi’s pretty sure, but the apology is enough to make Takumi relax slightly anyway. “It’s all right,” he says, surprised to find that he actually does feel a little better about it. Knowing why Niles lashed out makes the words lose a little of their power, although… “You didn’t say anything that wasn’t true, anyway.”

“Really?” Niles’s eyebrows raise slightly, as if he hadn’t expected that. That’s odd, since Niles seemed to know exactly the right words to hit Takumi’s worst insecurities yesterday. Is he just surprised Takumi’s willing to admit to them?

“My performance yesterday was pretty pathetic,” he admits, not wanting to talk more about his other failings with Niles of all people. “I shouldn’t have lost concentration like that, no matter what you were saying to me. If we’d been in battle, I would have ended up dead because I let you get to me too quickly.” He looks down and away, unable to hold Niles’s gaze while he’s talking about this. It makes him feel much more vulnerable than he ever wants to be.

“About that… I have a proposition for you.”

Takumi’s head shoots up again. “What kind of proposition?!”

Niles snickers. “Calm down, Lord Takumi, it’s not _that_ kind. Let’s call it an ‘offer’ instead, if it makes you feel any better.”

“I’m listening. What did you have in mind?” Takumi asks warily. Even if Niles is being significantly nicer than yesterday, there’s still no way he’ll trust him. It’s probably just a lead-up to another lewd suggestion, anyway. 

“Practice sessions for keeping your mind on your archery. You’ll try to shoot, I’ll try to… distract you. If you can ignore me enough to be accurate, you’ll have no trouble handling anything an enemy might throw at you on the battlefield.”

Takumi stares at him flatly. “Is this just an excuse for you to spend more time harassing me?”

Niles laughs. “Always so suspicious. Could it be that a face like mine isn’t inherently trustworthy?” He gestures at his eyepatch. “Really, though, harassing you isn’t the whole point. More like an added bonus.”

Takumi just keeps staring. Does Niles actually expect him to take him up on this? He’s been insulted enough by this jerk for a lifetime. _He’s right, though,_ a mental voice whispers. _If you could ignore someone who annoys you this much, there’s nothing you couldn’t ignore in a crisis. It really would be good training._ Still, though…

“Think about it,” Niles wheedles. “It’d be great for Nohrian-Hoshidan relations, wouldn’t it? The two of us, practicing together after our rocky start, bonding, our relationship blossoming…”

Takumi has to admit it’s a tempting picture (minus the implications that Niles seems incapable of staying away from). He wonders if Niles has been yelled at by Leo about playing nice with foreigners as well, or if he’s just once again exhibiting his ability to say exactly the thing that will move Takumi most. Accepting Niles’s offer could be a way to work on his emotional control, just like Ryoma asked, and show that he’s willing to work with Nohrians, no matter how odious. Maybe Ryoma will be proud of him…

Takumi sighs. “All right, fine. We can try it.”

“Looking forward to working with you, then.” Niles holds out his hand for a Nohrian-style handshake. His grip is strong, and he has calluses in the same place as Takumi’s, making his hand feel almost familiar. Takumi bows shallowly after the handshake; Niles actually puts effort into the reciprocation this time, although it’s clear he has no idea how deep a bow is proper. Well, Takumi can’t really fault him for that.

“I should get going,” Takumi says after a few seconds of silence. “But… thanks for this.” He turns to leave, then a thought occurs to him. “One condition, if we’re really going to do this: you can say anything you want, but leave my family out of it.” There’s only so much he can take, after all.

Niles raises his eyebrows, expression unreadable. “Your wish is my command, Lord Takumi.” 

Takumi turns away for good then, more than ready to be out of the cramped alleyway, but he can feel Niles’s eye following him until he turns the corner. 

 

\-----

 

“That outfit you wear for training sure is enticing,” Niles purrs in his ear. “I like it. All that bare skin…”

Takumi huffs in frustration, his concentration wavering and the arrow he’s formed flickering in and out of existence. This training session has gone both much better and much worse than he’d thought it would. On the bright side, Niles has stayed away completely from the topic of his family, and has even stopped insulting his incompetence, which is an unexpected bonus. However, as a replacement, Takumi has been treated to a non-stop bombardment of sexual propositions and innuendos. It’s _hard_ to find the sense of concentration and calm he needs to use Fujin Yumi when all the blood in his body seems to be rushing to his face.

“Did you wear it especially for me?” Niles asks. “Or do you usually like being so… exposed?”

“Is your mind always in the gutter?” Takumi snaps before loosing a shot. It hits the target, which is an improvement over some of his shots from the beginning of this session, although its path wobbles much more than one of his usual shots and it hits in one of the outer rings. 

Takumi refuses to look at Niles, trying to keep his mind on Fujin Yumi, but he can _hear_ Niles grinning next to him. “Why, Lord Takumi, the gutter’s where I was born and raised. Of course my mind’s familiar with it. I learned quite a few tricks there. I can show you, if you want.”

Takumi feels himself blushing even more. He knows Niles doesn’t actually _mean_ any of these things, he’s just saying them to rattle Takumi, but despite knowing that, it’s working all too well. Everything Niles says when he’s in this mode veritably drips sexual energy, even if it could debatably be innocent. Takumi thinks that he should have taken Ryoma up on one of his frequent offers to teach him meditation. It sounds like the most boring thing in the world, sitting around and waiting for nothing to happen, but it’s all about clearing your mind, right? Maybe if his mind were clear, horrifying mental pictures of himself and Niles doing all the things Niles is suggesting wouldn’t keep popping into his head like this. 

“What would you do if I actually took you up on that?” he asks, exasperation warring with embarrassment. 

“Oh ho, showing a little interest, are you? You’re bolder than I’d thought you’d be, considering all your maidenly blushing.”

“N-no!” Takumi almost drops Fujin Yumi as he turns to face Niles, waving his arms in panic. “T-there’s no way I’d ever be interested in you!” He takes a deep breath, counting silently in his head like Ryoma does when he meditates, in a futile effort to calm down. “I was just wondering, since you keep making gross offers like that.”

Niles laughs out loud, long and full. “All right, Lord Takumi, no need to protest so much. I know a Nohrian gutter rat isn’t likely to be your type. And as for what I’d do if you thought I was serious- well, I’d laugh at you for being such a gullible fool.”

Takumi grits his teeth. “Well, I _didn’t_ take you seriously. I was just asking. And you’re always laughing at me anyway, so it’s not like that’s big news.” He’d like nothing more than to stomp off right now, but he won’t let Niles win again. He’ll stay at this training session until it’s over and put up with as many insults as Niles wants to throw at him, but Niles won’t see him turn tail and run this time. 

“You sure are vehement about not being serious, aren’t you? It makes me wonder if you’re overcompensating for something.”

Takumi hisses out a long, long breath from between his clenched teeth, raising Fujin Yumi again and trying with all his might to concentrate. “You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“Well, of course. I can feel our bond deepening already. Hoshido and Nohr will be so proud of us. And you’re cute when you blush.” Niles taps the tip of Takumi’s nose.

Takumi jumps close to half a foot in the air. “Don’t _touch_ me like that!”

Niles smirks. “Do you think enemies in battle will respect your personal space? This is just another part of your training, Lord Takumi.”

“I don’t think a _Vallite_ is going to _boop my nose_ , thank you.” Takumi rubs the tip of his nose hard, trying to get rid of the tingling feeling left over from the contact. 

“I was told you have a fine mind, on top of your excellent physique. Hasn’t your knowledge of war tactics led you to expect the unexpected from any enemy?”

“You may be the most annoying person I’ve ever met.”

“How sweet of you to notice. I do try my best.” Niles winks, or does what Takumi thinks would have been a wink if he’d had more than one eye- it’s a very deliberate eye-closing, anyway. 

Takumi fights to avoid dignifying him with a response. _Come on, concentrate. The better you shoot, the sooner you can get out of here._ He raises Fujin Yumi again.

 

\-----

 

Niles keeps him there for more than another hour, and at times Takumi thinks he’s either going to scream or storm off, but by the end of the session he’s started to make noticeable progress. He’s managing to keep himself calm long enough to actually fire arrows (chanting _he doesn’t mean it, ignore him, show him he can’t beat you_ under his breath seems to be helping), and the arrows he does manage to fire are hitting the center of the target more often than not. In the best moments, Niles’s voice is fading to nothing more an irritating buzz in his ears. 

He’s in one of those moments when he feels a sudden tap on his shoulder. He flinches, to his own embarrassment, and snaps “I said not to touch me.”

“My apologies, Lord Takumi,” says Niles, sounding completely insincere. “I was just saying, I think it’s time we stopped for the day. I have other duties, and I’m sure you do as well. And you seem to be coming along nicely, if you can tune me out that well.”

Pride at the compliment battles irritation at Niles’s patronizing words. Takumi settles on an only moderately aggressive response. “I wasn’t chosen to wield Fujin Yumi for nothing, you know.” At least, he hopes he wasn’t.

There’s a half-grin on Niles’s face. “You know, yesterday I would have thought it was just your royal status that got you that bow. But today, you’ve definitely outdone my expectations. To be honest, I thought you’d walk out on me in the first ten minutes.”

“Why’d you even offer to do this in the first place if you thought it would go badly?” Takumi demands. “Did you just want to make me look like an idiot again?” He curses inwardly- he shouldn’t have said _again._

Niles shrugs, his grin widening. “I had only the purest of intentions, Lord Takumi.”

“Like you’ve ever done anything pure,” Takumi mutters.

“It worked out, didn’t it?” Niles continues. He gestures to the people walking by the training range. “Here we are, a shining example of international cooperation for everyone to see. If we continue these sessions, maybe we can inspire others to cooperate as well.”

Takumi raises an eyebrow. “Do you actually care about that kind of thing?” Takumi cares, inasmuch as he’d much rather not care but knows he has to learn to cooperate even with Nohrians to set a royal example. Niles, though… He’d mentioned cooperation before, when he was trying to sell Takumi on this whole ridiculous idea, but this kind of idealistic moral talk about cooperation really doesn’t seem like Niles’s style.

Niles shrugs noncommittally. “Lord Leo cares.”

_Ah, that makes a lot more sense._ Takumi’s participated in discussions himself with Leo about how to deepen the fragile bond between Nohr and Hoshido. He should have known that Leo was behind this whole scheme. It’s more understandable than Niles seeking him out of his own accord and doing what is technically a nice thing, even if he’s getting enjoyment out of torturing Takumi in the process. “So he ordered you to work with me, then?”

Niles shakes his head. “Oh no, he had a talk with me about not aggravating his friends to the point of attempted murder, but an apology would have sufficed. This idea was all mine.”

“So are you doing this to impress him, or to annoy me?”

Niles shrugs, his face unreadable. “To impress him, to annoy you, to help you, to see what you were made of. Take your pick, Lord Takumi, think whatever you like. You have your hidden depths. Let me have mine.”

“Hidden depths?” Takumi echoes, shocked. He doesn’t know if he’s ever heard that before- as far as he can tell, most people don’t pay enough attention to him to believe that he has any depths at all. 

“I’d say so. Think of all the fun we’ll have exploring them together.” He leers.

Takumi feels himself turning red. Of _course_ Niles was just talking about… that kind of thing. “Oh, that’s it. If we’re done training, I’m done with you bothering me. _Some_ of us have important things to do. I’ll see you next time.” He turns on his heel and walks out of the practice range, making a concerted effort to make it look like a dignified exit in case any curious eyes are watching. He won’t ruin any progress he’s made for international relations, but he also doesn’t have to put up with these _constant stupid innuendos_. He tries to stifle the voice in the back of his mind that tells him he’s just running away again. He’s allowed to have his pride, after all.

Niles’s laughter rings in his ears long after he’s left the practice range behind him.

 

\-----

 

He finds himself in Ryoma’s command tent again, reporting on his progress. _“We did well, brother,”_ he says, a little proud of himself despite the endless frustration he’s been through. _“He spent the whole time suggesting, well, completely inappropriate things to me, but I got much better at ignoring him and keeping my emotions under control, just like you said, and a lot of my shots were dead-on by the end. And I think people saw us too, so now they’ll know Nohr and Hoshido can get along.”_ More or less, he mentally adds. _“So what do you think?”_ He waits with bated breath, feeling a bit like a dog that just performed a trick and is about to see whether its owner deemed it worthy of a treat. 

_“Not good enough,”_ Ryoma says, barely looking up from the papers he’s reading. _“Why are you wasting my time with a pathetic effort like this?”_

It’s a punch to the gut. _“What? But I-”_

_“You’re leaving out parts of the truth to make yourself look better. Don’t think I can’t tell. You let him get to you, didn’t you? You got angry, and you couldn’t concentrate, and it affected your performance. That was some of your worst shooting, even if you were hitting the target. You even knew he was baiting you, you knew he didn’t mean any of it, and you still took the bait. I will not have a prince of Hoshido letting a mere thief get the upper hand on him in anything. I’m ashamed of you.”_

Takumi blinks hard to try to get rid of the tears stinging his eyes. _“I’m sorry, Ryoma, I’ll try harder next time, I’ll make you proud, I promise.”_

Ryoma laughs, hard and cold. _“You could never make me proud.”_

_“No, please, I know I’m weak but I can get better! Just give me another chance, I’ll block him out, I’ll hit the center of the target every time! I can fix this, please!”_

_“For someone who thinks he’s so smart, you’re rather slow to understand what’s going on here, Takumi. Hitting the target tomorrow would fix nothing. It’s not just about your failure with Niles. You’ve been failing every day to be the strong second prince that Hoshido needs. You’re just not good enough.”_

He can no longer hold back the tears; they trickle down his face, burning like acid. He’s always known he’s too weak to belong with his siblings, but he’s tried so hard to catch up to them, surpass them, prove he’s worthy of standing with them… _“Ryoma, please, tell me what I need to do to be good enough, I’ll do it, I swear-”_

Ryoma laughs again, his face condescending. _“I keep telling you, there’s nothing you can do. Even the way you’re breaking down right now proves you’re not fit to be part of our family.”_ He stands suddenly, and before Takumi can lift a finger to stop him he’s grabbed Fujin Yumi, lifting it smoothly out of its holder on Takumi’s back.

A sharp stab of fear hits Takumi; he feels suddenly naked, unprotected. Without thinking, he lunges for the bow in Ryoma’s hand. _“Wait, don’t, that’s mine!-”_ But when his hand touches the smooth material of the bow, _his_ bow, it feels like he’s been struck by lightning. Every nerve in his body is seared by sharp, bright pain, and he’s blown back several feet. His right hand, the one he’d used to grab Fujin Yumi, is blistered and bright red, as if he’d stuck his hand in a fire. His fingertips are charred black. He stares at it in sick horror, uncomprehending. _“What? I don’t understand…”_

_“The gods have rejected you,”_ says Ryoma with the patient tone of an adult explaining something simple to a child. _“You’re not fit to wield Fujin Yumi.”_

_“But- but it’s my bow, Mother gave it to me, it chose me!”_ Takumi curls in on himself, cradling his burned hand with his other hand. This can’t be happening, please...

_“Clearly it made a mistake. You can count yourself lucky that it let you use it as long as it did.”_ Ryoma turns to his siblings, lined up against the wall along the tent- have they been there all along? Have they seen all of this? They join Ryoma in front of him, towering over him as he shakes and cries on the ground. _“Which of you would like to wield Fujin Yumi?”_

Hinoka takes the bow, running her hands up and down it like she’s examining any old weapon. Wait, she can touch it? _“Eh, it’s nice, but it’s not really my style. And it’s hard to maneuver one from pegasus-back. Sakura, what about you?”_

Sakura accepts the bow as Hinoka passes it to her, bending it back experimentally- she’s so small, why is it so easy for her? Takumi had so much more trouble with it when he was her height- and calling up the bowstring and an arrow before she, too, shakes her head. _“It’s so easy to use, I can’t believe big brother can’t even do this. But I think Corrin should have it!”_

_“You’re right, Sakura,”_ says Ryoma, smiling fondly at her. _“Of course Corrin should have it. It should have been hers from the start anyway.”_

_“But- but Corrin has her Yato,”_ Takumi protests feebly.

_“I can wield two weapons, little brother,”_ Corrin says, taking Fujin Yumi in her hands. It fits them like it was made for her. _“Or should I even call you that? Everyone knows you’ve always resented me, and you’ve been using the weapon that should have been mine from the start and now you don’t even want me to have it back. Someone that petty and jealous doesn’t deserve to be my little brother.”_

_“I’m sorry, Corrin,”_ Takumi whimpers. _“I didn’t trust you at first, I know, but I thought you didn’t care about Hoshido and your family. Now I understand what you want, and I don’t resent you any more, I swear it.”_

_“Liar,”_ laughs Hinoka, her face twisted in disdain. _“You’ve always been jealous of her, we all know it. You wish I hadn’t spent all my time searching for her instead of paying attention to you, don’t you? Well, I don’t regret any of it. Corrin was worth all the time I spent searching for her, and you’re not worth any attention at all.”_

_“I don’t need you either, now that Corrin’s here,”_ adds in Sakura, slipping her hand into Corrin’s. _“She’s such a good big sister.”_

_“Mother knew this would happen, you know,”_ says Ryoma. _“She would always tell me about how you were the weak link in our family, how one day you’d fail and we’d be better off without you. She was always right about everything, wasn’t she?”_

_“M-Mother? No, you’re wrong,”_ whispers Takumi, the pain in his hand and in his heart throbbing in time with each other. _“Mother loved me, I know she did. She told me Fujin Yumi was meant to be mine.”_

_“She lied to you, Takumi. She never loved you.”_ Ryoma’s face hardens. He looks so tall and intimidating from Takumi’s place on the ground, so much stronger and more perfect than Takumi could ever be. _“Now get out. You’re not part of our family anymore. Leave us and leave our army.”_

_“B-but where am I supposed to go?”_ Takumi sobs.

_“Anywhere,”_ Ryoma shrugs. _“Why should we care?”_

_“Just stay out of Hoshido if you know what’s good for you,”_ Hinoka adds, brandishing a naginata that’s suddenly appeared in her hands.

_“Nohr doesn’t want you either,”_ says Corrin firmly. _“I don’t want you making either of my homes weaker.”_

_“I can’t go anywhere like this, I can’t protect myself- my hand-”_ his right hand is beginning to ooze blood and pus, a smell unpleasantly like charred meat filling the air. _“Sakura, please- heal me at least before I go, don’t make me go out there like this-”_

Sakura laughs, but not like the laugh he’s heard so many times when she’s teasing him or making a joke about some intolerable court official; her usual bell-like tone is now sharp and cold. _“Why would I use my magic on you? Real members of our army might need help. Just get out, Takumi. Stop wasting our time.”_

_“Sisters, brother, please, don’t do this to me.”_ He’s begging, and he hates how intolerably weak his own tone sounds, but he’s desperate like he’s never been before.

Corrin raises Fujin Yumi and points it at him, the bowstring and arrow forming quick as thought. _“Don’t make us tell you again, Takumi.”_

He turns tail and runs, scrambling to his feet and pushing his way through the flap of the tent. Sobs tear their way out of his chest, physically hurting as they scrape their way out of his lungs. He can barely breathe, but he half-stumbles along through the endless maze of tents, trying to find a way out, somewhere to go, someone who still cares about him and will help him. The makeshift streets outside the tents are lined with people, and through tear-filled eyes he can process the faces of almost everyone he knows. He burns with humiliation- everyone can see how weak he’s always been now. They’ll all know who he truly is. He hears Leo’s voice from the crowd, muttering _“pathetic”,_ and Niles’s already-familiar derisive laugh. He runs through the camp for what seems like hours, but all the familiar pathways he knows are gone, every turn a false start, and eventually he hits a dead end and falls to his knees in desperation.

_“Not good enough.”_ He turns at the sound of the voice to see Corrin behind him, Fujin Yumi still in her hand. She sneers, raises the bow, draws back the arrow and-

He wakes up in his tent with a gasp, breathing as hard as if he really had been running for miles. 

His first instinct is to grope beside him for Fujin Yumi, never far away from him in case of a nighttime surprise attack. He clutches it desperately, almost slicing his hand open on the edge of the stylized wing at the center, and pulls it close to him, hugging it like a child with a favorite stuffed animal. He could almost sob with relief- he’s still the rightful wielder of the bow, the gods haven’t rejected him. ( _Not yet_ , a treacherous part of him whispers. _Give it time_.) He clings to the Yumi for a few seconds, then pulls himself to his feet, still half in a dream. There’s a wave of jittery energy filling him, rising through his chest and freezing his insides. He has to let it out somehow. Without thinking to wake his retainers and tell them where he’s going, he leaves his tent, haphazardly shoving sandals onto his feet at the doorway. 

He’s not surprised when his steps lead him to the practice range yet again. Of course this is where he should be. He shouldn’t even have left yesterday, even if Niles had let him go. Until he’s hitting the center of the target with every shot, he _can’t_ leave. He has to get better if he wants to stay a part of the Hoshidan royal family; he can’t stop trying to improve even for a second, not if he doesn’t want his nightmare to come true. In the daylight, when he sees Ryoma smile at him, feels Hinoka sling her arm around his shoulders, hears Sakura laughing at a joke he made, sees Corrin’s ecstatic face as her arrow buries itself in the target just the way he taught her to do it, it doesn’t feel so possible. They do love him, don’t they? Even if he is the weak link in their family? But here at night, with the camp and his mind both full of hazy shadows… he can’t be so sure.

He’s lucky the moon is creeping towards full. It provides- well, not really enough light to see the target clearly, but enough to keep him from giving up and going back to his tent. He squints at the target and shoots, blinking the afterimages of Fujin Yumi’s glowing arrows out of his eyes before aiming again, more times than he can count. Every time an arrow goes astray, his breath hitches in anxiety, wondering how he can possibly be this pathetic. _Just keep going,_ he tells himself, forcing himself to think of nothing but willing the bowstring into existence. _If you fall apart every time you make a mistake, you really will stay this weak forever._ He grits his teeth, determined not to let any more tears fall. He _has_ to get better, there’s no other option.

His arms start aching after a while, tired from a full day of practice; he ignores it. His arms will just have to get stronger too. The pain crescendos to a peak, until he’s wincing every time he draws the bow, and then recedes, taking his strength with it. He can see his arms trembling, although he can’t really feel it, and Fujin Yumi feels three times heavier and harder to draw than it usually does. He keeps going, sinking back into the calm that he’s only ever found when he’s alone with Fujin Yumi, his fears and anxieties too strong tonight to completely disappear, but receding in importance somehow. For a few minutes, he’s able to forget.

“-kumi. Lord Takumi!” He’s jarred out of his focus by a hand on his shoulder, shaking him gently.

In his shock, every feeling he’s been trying to suppress comes flooding back. “Don’t touch me,” he snarls, whipping around to see Niles- oh, of _course_ it’s Niles, won’t this man ever get tired of tormenting him?- looking at him with what might be actual concern.

“Lord Takumi, it’s an hour before dawn and you look like you’re about to drop that bow any second. Have you got something against rest?”

“Why do you care? Go away, I’m busy.” He doesn’t know if he’s ever been less in the mood for Niles’s teasing. He raises Fujin Yumi again, arms shaking worse than before as he calls the string into existence. Curse that Nohrian for reminding him of his exhaustion.

“Busy running yourself into the ground? If you wear yourself away like this at night, there’ll be none left for me in the morning, so why don’t you just get back to bed like a good little prince and-” Niles cuts off abruptly, withdrawing his hand from where it had brushed the wood of Fujin Yumi. He hisses and shakes his hand like it’s just been burnt, but when he speaks his voice is more wry than pained. “Ouch, it bites.” He whistles.

“You’re not worthy to wield it,” Takumi replies. “It chose me. I’m the rightful wielder.” He says it more to convince himself than to convince Niles, but he knows his tone is sharper than it should be.

“You bite too,” says Niles, not sounding offended in the slightest. “Calm down, sweetheart, I’m not here to steal your divine weapon. That’d just get me a hanging.”

“Then why _are_ you here?” Takumi snaps. “Why can’t you ever leave me alone for one godsdamned second? This isn’t one of our practice sessions, so it’s none of your business.”

Niles sighs almost imperceptibly. His tone edges towards the serious, with some of his usual ironic carelessness dropping away. “You may be an arrogant, prickly prince, but I can’t say your arrogance isn’t well-founded. You’re the best archer in this army- at least, the best archer with two functioning eyes. If the best archer in the army is overworking himself at five in the morning, it’s the army’s business.”

Takumi freezes in surprise, his grip on Fujin Yumi slackening. Best archer in the army? It’s flattering, but it’s a far cry from even the praise Niles had delivered that afternoon. Is he lying to try to convince Takumi to get back to bed? But what reason would he have to care if he _didn’t_ think Takumi was important to the army? Takumi sighs in frustration, pushing his sweat-soaked hair out of his face with his free hand. It doesn’t matter. “I may be the best, but I have to get better. I _have_ to. If I don’t-” images from the dream spring back to him, of Ryoma’s thunderous disapproval, of Fujin Yumi rejecting him and charring his skin to cinders, of Corrin’s arrow pointed straight between his eyes. He falters. “...You wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me,” suggests Niles, spreading his hands out palm-up. “I’ve had enough experience with different kinds of human misery that by the laws of probability there’s a good chance I can relate.”

Takumi’s first instinct, for some reason he can’t discern, is to accept Niles’s offer. Pouring out his troubles to a willing ear, any willing ear at all, seems so tempting. He’s been carrying this burden for so long, maybe sharing it would help lighten it, and Niles does seem sincere, strange as it is- and then he shakes himself out of this train of thought with a visible effort. What kind of idiot is he? How desperate is he, wanting to share his deepest fears with someone who’s already proven willing to use those fears against him, and who’s really annoying and probably hates him to boot? He shakes his head wordlessly, the motion sending sweat droplets from his hair trickling down his face. Not _this_ willing ear. 

Niles shrugs. “Suit yourself. But let me share a little wisdom with you anyway, out of the goodness of my heart.” He smiles, teeth almost glinting in the moonlight. “You’re new to this whole war thing. No castle guards protecting you, no way to hide behind your retainers’ skirts and let them foil any attacks on you. One mistake and you’re dead. You must be quaking in your sandals.”

Takumi bristles at the implication that he’s never had to take care of himself before- does Niles really think he was a helpless child before the war?- but Niles is continuing before he has a chance to interrupt. “I’m not as new to this as you are. My whole life’s been a war. Make an error and-” he taps his eyepatch- “things aren’t pretty. But it’s taught me a lot. And one of the things it’s taught me is that people who work themselves to the bone and use up all of their energy on practice when an ambush could strike any moment and require all the energy they don’t have anymore, well, they tend to be the ones who end up dead quickest. And I don’t think the army would be too happy if one of those was you.”

“You seem awfully confident that people would care,” mutters Takumi bitterly. He’d thought Niles understood this already, but maybe he hasn’t seen Takumi with his siblings enough. They might be sad for a little bit, but they’d just go find another wielder worthy of Fujin Yumi and their lives would get back to normal. Niles is right, though, much as he hates to admit it. He’s being reckless again, isn’t he? What if they are ambushed in the morning? Will he even be able to lift his bow without a massage from his retainers to make his arms less stiff? Feeling more awake at last, with the remnants of the dream fading with every second he spends talking to Niles, shame washes over him as he realizes what an idiot he’s been. 

“What was that?” Niles raises an eyebrow, eye glinting with curiosity, and Takumi realizes that he’s probably said too much.

“Nothing,” he replies quickly. “I’m going to bed.” He brushes past Niles, too embarrassed at all these displays of weakness to show even more of it by admitting the other man is right or thanking him. He does pause at the edge of the training ground, looking back at Niles’s figure a few yards away. He hasn’t moved, seemingly lost in thought. Takumi looks back at him, wondering what he’s thinking about, wondering what he must think of Takumi right now, before quietly saying, “...Goodnight, Niles.”

As he lies in his futon a few minutes later, waiting for sleep to claim him again and trying to stretch out his muscles in the futile hope that they won’t be stiff in the morning, his thoughts turn to Niles. Why had he stopped to send Takumi to bed? Why was he even up at this hour, since he clearly wasn’t on patrol duty? And what’s happened to him to make him call his past a constant war? How did he lose that eye? _It doesn’t matter,_ Takumi tries to tell himself firmly. _He’s Leo’s retainer, not yours, and soon enough he’ll get bored and leave you alone. Stop acting like you’re so fascinated._ But the questions won’t leave him, swimming through his head until he falls asleep. When he dreams again, it’s just of the color blue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: I love Takumi so much and want him to be happy forever   
> Me: *constantly tortures Takumi*
> 
> Takumi, I am so, so sorry.
> 
> Thanks so much for the reception this fic has gotten so far, everyone- I love every single one of you who's hit the kudos button or commented or bookmarked or come and yelled at me about Takuniles! I highly encourage more (especially the yelling part) and I hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as the first one!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Takumi gets beaten at chess and bares himself to Niles in more ways than one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here's my next, on-schedule chapter.... Haha what are you talking about it hasn't been eight months...... I'm not a total mess............................................... But anyway I sincerely hope you all enjoy this/remember that this fic ever existed! And happy birthday to my dearest Alice, [@leokuminiles](https://twitter.com/leokuminiles), who is pretty singlehandedly the reason why I managed to get past my life-change-induced writer's block and bring this next chapter to you. Happy birthday Alice, you mean the world to me and iwysm (although of course you already know that)

Takumi wakes bleary-eyed and groaning in the morning, regretting every second of last night. His muscles complain as he stretches them out. They’re not as bad as he’d feared- his body is used to being pushed to its limits, after all- but by no means is it going to be pleasant to go through the day like this.

“Are you okay, Lord Takumi?” asks Hinata, falling into stride with him as they walk towards the mess hall to break their fast. “You’re walking like a granny.”

Takumi groans, linking his fingers and stretching his arms out over his head to help alleviate the pain. “I’m fine. Just not enough sleep and too much practice.”

“You should take better care of yourself,” scolds Oboro from his other side. “I know you want to train, but you need to think about your health, Lord Takumi!”

Takumi groans even louder this time. “Ugh, spare me the lecture. I’ve heard it already. I just wasn’t thinking about how much I was practicing, all right?” It’s close enough to the truth- it’s not that he doesn’t trust his retainers enough to tell them what he really did last night, he just… doesn’t exactly feel like reliving the nightmare as he tells them about it.

“All right, but be careful next time. I’ll make you some strength-restoring soup tonight to get you your energy back,” Oboro responds. 

“Who was lecturing you, anyway?” Hinata asks. “Lord Ryoma?”

Takumi sighs. “Prince Leo’s retainer, Niles.”

Oboro’s face twists alarmingly. “That Nohrian? Who does he think he is, bothering you with unwanted advice like that? What’s he plotting?” She seems to be ignoring the fact that the unwanted advice is the exact same advice she just gave Takumi, but judging by the look on her face, Takumi decides it’s safer not to mention that to her. 

“He’s not so bad,” Takumi says, to his own immense surprise. He looks both ways, checking to make sure Niles isn’t somehow right behind him and listening to the conversation- this camp is too small sometimes. “Well, he mostly is. We’ve been practicing together so I can improve my concentration and my patience, but that just means he keeps making dirty jokes at me _all the time_ , and when I get annoyed at him for it he just thinks it’s funny, and it would be great to punch him in the face. But...” He thinks about Niles’s concerned expression last night, and how he’d offered to try to understand Takumi’s worries, even if Takumi didn’t take him up on it. “I guess he’s not terrible all the time. Just most of the time.”

“I’ll punch him in the face for you if you want,” Hinata offers. “I’ll be really stealthy about it so they can’t trace it back to us. Like a ninja.”

Oboro laughs. “Like you could ever have the stealth of a ninja. Anyone could hear you coming from a mile away.”

“Well, maybe I’ll bribe Kaze to do it. That way no one will ever know it was us.”

Takumi rolls his eyes and leaves his retainers to their bickering. It lightens his spirits having them around, ridiculous as they are, and it heartens him to know the absurd lengths they’d go to defend his honor. He guesses he probably doesn’t really need them to punch Niles in the face, though. He’ll settle for daydreaming about it. 

 

\-----

 

He doesn’t have another joint training session with Niles that day, which, honestly, is probably for the best. They both have their own responsibilities, and they really don’t have time to meet every single day, and anyway, Takumi has no idea how he’s even meant to _feel_ about Niles right now. Should their encounter last night make up for every single other encounter they’ve had since they met? The subject is just as frustrating as Niles as a person routinely is. He needs some time to think about it, or maybe to avoid it entirely and hope that his subconscious comes to some conclusion or other while he’s not looking.

Really, though, if he had planned to put Niles out of his mind, he should have thought twice before agreeing to play chess with Niles’s lord and master in the evening. That might not have been his best plan.

“So I hear you’ve been spending time with my retainer,” Leo remarks as he casually captures Takumi’s rook with his knight, flicking it off the board and onto the table while absolutely _ruining_ Takumi’s strategy for the next two moves.

Takumi’s only response is a long groan, directed at Leo’s damnably good chess skills and the concept of Niles in equal measure. He props his head on his hand in disgust and stares fixedly at the board for some way to salvage this game. 

Leo snickers quietly, a hint of a sardonic smile appearing on his face. “Is it going that well?”

“He’s _impossible_ ,” Takumi responds. “How do you deal with him every day?” He pauses, considers how he’d feel if someone said that about Hinata or Oboro, and hastily adds, “No offense meant.”

“None taken,” Leo responds. “He tends to have that effect on people. I’ve always been of the opinion that it’s their loss. It’s your move, by the way.”

Takumi glares. “I know it’s my move. Be patient.” He sighs, hovering his hand over his one remaining rook in consideration. “I know you’ve known him longer than I have, and you wouldn’t keep him around if he didn’t make up for… everything else… but, well, the first day we met he came right up to me and started insulting-” His eyebrows draw together. “Well, he was right, which made it worse.”

“That is one of his flaws,” Leo agrees. “But it’s not for me to discipline him in that, unless it starts causing problems within the army. He may be my retainer, but I don’t own him; he’s his own person. If he wants to introduce himself to people like that, it’s his prerogative.” His lips twitch. “And facing death via divine weapon is the risk he runs, I suppose, although I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t actually kill him. He’s rather irreplaceable.”

Takumi drops his head into his hands, looking up at Leo from between his fingers. “Look, I’m really, really sorry about that. I know I should have a better handle on my temper than that, and I definitely shouldn’t be running around threatening Nohrians, especially not Nohrians you care about. He was _just_ …” He trails off, since there’s really no justification other than ‘he knows exactly how little my family is proud of me and I couldn’t handle the fact that he realized it so quickly,’ and while Leo’s already one of the few people in the world he thinks he can trust with the truth about his family situation, he’s not in the mood to get into it right now. He focuses on the chessboard instead, using his pawn to take Leo’s knight. 

Leo shrugs. “Well, my feelings on the matter would be very different if you’d actually hurt him, but as it stands, no harm done. Gods know I’ve done things I regretted before as well, so I understand how easy it is. Just don’t do it again. From what he tells me, though, the two of you are getting along much better recently, so I don’t think I need to worry.” He captures Takumi’s offending pawn in revenge for his fallen knight. Well, that’s all right, it’s done its job.

“Are we really? It’s news to me.” Takumi brushes a stray strand of hair out of his face, staring back down at the board. When did Leo’s bishop get that close to his king? “Well, I mean, he is… better than I thought. I think.” He still has no real idea what to make of last night; evidently, not thinking about it has only served the purpose of making everything more confusing. “But he won’t stop making fun of me, and _flirting_ with me, and making all these sexual innuendos…” He runs his hands through his hair and sighs loudly. “How do you even handle it?”

“Well, to be fair, he doesn’t do that to me as much.” Leo seems to be repressing the urge to laugh.

“What, am I just special?” Takumi grouses. His irritation is tempered slightly when he finally sees a move, using his queen to a prime position to capture Leo’s threatening bishop. “Your move.”

“No, I’m the special one,” Leo responds, squinting at the board. “I’m his lord, and I spared his life when we met. Even then, he’ll still tease me, although not with quite the same edge. But he does it to most people. He likes… testing them, I suppose.”

“If it’s a test, I’m failing,” Takumi mutters. He’s not even sure if he wants to succeed- what kind of person would he have to be for Niles to like him instantly?- but there’s still a bitter taste in his throat. 

“I wouldn’t say that,” Leo says. “From what I’ve seen, he seems interested in you.” 

_“Interested?!”_ Takumi squawks, jumping so violently he nearly knocks a few pieces over. “But I thought he said none of the flirting was serious?!”

This time Leo bursts out laughing for real, warm and full-throated, the kind of laugh that Takumi’s only gotten out of him a few times so far. He’d enjoy it a lot more if it weren’t coming at his expense. “Not that kind of interested, Takumi. But I think he’s enjoyed your company. I didn’t order him to spend any more time with you, you know.” He moves a pawn forward, a fairly innocuous move. 

“He did say that,” Takumi says. “And he is being… helpful, I guess. I do need to work on not letting things get to me, and he’s great practice for that.” It’s a little uncomfortable admitting that he has flaws that he needs to work on, but it’s not nearly as bad with Leo as with anyone else. Leo gets him. 

“That’s a good start,” Leo replies. “You know, I think the two of you could really get along, eventually. You have a lot in common.”

Takumi looks up in surprise from taking Leo’s other bishop. “Really? What could we have in common?” He pauses, thinking about how little he actually knows about Niles. “Hey, what’s his whole deal, anyway? He keeps mentioning things like how he came from nothing, and his childhood was a war, and stuff like that, but he’s never really explained anything.”

Leo hums, surveying the board. “He’ll tell you, probably. He’s not usually too shy about it, but I’d rather not say anything and deny him the chance to tell you in his own time. It’s enough to say that no matter where he came from, I’d trust him with my life.”

Takumi sighs. “Well, I trust your judgment, I guess. Maybe someday I’ll get what you see in him.” Maybe he should try the whole getting-along thing with Niles again and see if it sticks this time, he thinks. Niles has been annoying, but, well, Takumi guesses he hasn’t been much more pleasant. And if Leo thinks they could be friends, there’s always a chance he’s onto something.

“Well, your taste has been getting better since you met me,” Leo comments. “But for now, we’re at least even. I don’t see what you see in that retainer of yours, either, the one who constantly looks like she’s just bitten into a lemon.” He uses his oh-so-innocuous pawn to take Takumi’s queen as the tactical part of Takumi’s brain screams in horror. “Check.”

Takumi rakes his hands through his hair in intense frustration as he stares at the board, assessing his rapidly narrowing options. How could he not have seen this coming? “Next time we’re playing shogi, and I’m going to grind you into the dust,” he grumbles.

“I look forward to our match,” Leo replies, smirking. “I’ll enjoy being able to beat you in two different games.” 

Takumi groans again. For such an excellent friend, Leo can sure be a pain in his ass sometimes. No wonder he and Niles get along.

 

\-----

 

He and Niles had planned to have a training session the next day, but their plans are disrupted, as so many things often are recently, by the fact that they’re at war. Corrin leads them out on a skirmish against some Vallites that have been plaguing the area recently, and, as Corrin can seemingly do no wrong, the skirmish ends in a rout. His arms still ache from his idiotic behavior of a few nights before, but Takumi thinks he’s acquitted himself well. He saw his arrows fell at least ten enemies, just as many as any of his siblings. Not that he’s counting. (Well, maybe he’s counting a little.)

He’s exhausted after the skirmish, and his tasks don’t even end there- he has to pull a full shift hunting for meat for that night’s dinner, and then take weapons inventory, making sure that none of their weapons have been too damaged from the cumulative effects of battle. It seems cosmically unfair that these tasks don’t just do themselves while the army is off fighting, but he guesses whining won’t make them do themselves either, so he buckles down to work, only whining under his breath. It’s late by the time he finally finishes with the weapons, and all he wants is a hot bath and then sleep, preferably with no nightmares this time. He drags himself to the hot springs, stripping off his clothes in half a daze, and immerses himself in the hot water. It’s the first time he’s felt relaxed all day.

Of course Niles would show up at a time like this.

Takumi doesn’t even notice at first- he’s sunk almost all the way underneath the water, enjoying the feeling of the hot water against his scalp. He only realizes someone else is here when the ripples from someone entering the water splash across his face and into his nose. He pushes himself up quickly, spluttering, hair plastered across his face. It’s far from his most attractive moment. 

“Peace, Lord Takumi. It’s not an assassin, it’s just little old me. Although perhaps you’d prefer the assassin?” Niles sits down on the ledge a few feet away from him, just close enough to make Takumi feel vaguely awkward.

“...Hello, Niles,” he says, and pauses. What does he even say now? Should he be trying to start a conversation at all, or should he just leave Niles alone to a nice, peaceful bath? 

Luckily, Niles doesn’t leave him to stew for too long. “You fought well today,” he says, leaning back against the side of the bath. “The way you pierced all those enemies… It almost made me wish I was one of them.”

Takumi sighs. “That wasn’t even one of your better innuendos,” he says, trying hard to look languid and casual and not-at-all flustered. Luckily, he’s already pink from the heat of the water.

Niles flaps his hand lazily in acknowledgement. “They can’t all be winners. It’s been a long day- I’m spent.” He does look tired, Takumi notices- there’s a dark circle under his one visible eye. (He’s wearing the eyepatch even in the bath, which is interesting. Is what’s under it so terrible that he doesn’t want to risk anyone seeing?) “On that note,” he continues, “I wanted to compliment you on your stamina. I thought you’d be exhausted after that little nighttime adventure of ours the other night.”

Takumi bites his lip and sinks a little lower in the water. “Um, so, about that…” he begins reluctantly. “I’ve been wanting to… um, apologize. Again. You were just trying to help, and I was, um, well… I was a real jerk to you. ...Again. So… sorry.”

Niles shrugs. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve had a lot worse, trust me. I’ve had worse from _you._ "

Takumi blushes and looks away. “Is that supposed to make me feel better about it?”

“Well, maybe. To be fair, I’ve also given worse, to a pretty long list of people. Don’t sweat it too much.”

“Still, it really wasn’t fair of me. I know we got off on the wrong foot, and, well, stayed on the wrong foot, but you were right, I shouldn’t have been out there that late. I just… I wasn’t myself.”

“So you snap at me when you’re yourself _and_ when you’re not yourself? Lucky me.”

Takumi sighs. “I guess I deserve that. I just… I had a nightmare,” he confesses. “A pretty bad one. And I guess it… rattled me.” He glances over at Niles nervously, already wishing he could unsay those words; he feels like he owes a full explanation to him now that he’s apologizing, but admitting his own failings still feels much too personal. Niles has already pegged him as a pathetic prince; what’s he going to think of Takumi having nightmares like a child?

To his surprise, Niles’s eye is sympathetic rather than mocking. “Hmm, I see. Well, you’re not the only one. Why do you think I was up to catch you practicing?”

Takumi’s eyes widen. “ _You?_ Really? You don’t seem like the type.” He really doesn’t. Takumi can’t imagine what would bother Niles enough for him to have a nightmare about it. He doesn’t know what bothered Niles would even _look_ like.

Niles shrugs, the water rippling slightly. “Another one of my hidden depths, I guess. I’ve seen things you can’t imagine. Behind my mature, unruffled facade, there’s a shell-shocked, crying child just begging to get out.” Takumi honestly can’t tell if he’s joking. His smirk widens fractionally, though- he, at least, doesn’t seem to be treating it as a personal revelation. “But that’s all in the past. Now all I have to deal with is war. It’s a step up. And at least I have better ways to deal with my nightmares than picking up my bow and firing until my fingers fall off. Although I’ve been known to spend time shooting off a… different kind of arrow, for distraction.”

“Well, I don’t do _that_ ,” Takumi responds, flushing. (It’s not as if he _never_ does it, but it’s difficult to picture himself being in the mood, after the kind of nightmares he has.) “And I don’t usually get up and start training, either. That was just… a lapse. Usually I just go walking.”

Niles nods. “That’s a much better cure. I’ve been known to go for some moonlit strolls myself. Or I’ll just sit and watch the sky.”

“The sky?” Takumi echoes. He remembers a few nights ago, after his nightmare about Niles, seeing the adventurer sitting out in a clearing, gaze trained upwards. Had he been recovering from a nightmare as well? The idea makes Niles feel less like an enigma and more like a human.

“The stars and the moon are always there, even if they’re hidden on rainy nights,” Niles replies, lazily tracing circles in the water with an index finger. “They were here before we were born and they’ll be here long after we’re dead. No matter what we dream about, they’ll be there when we wake up to comfort us. When you see something like that, it’s harder to think that your little problems actually matter. They’ll die with you, and the moon will shine down on your bones.”

“That’s… kind of a morbid way to think about it,” says Takumi doubtfully. He can see a way in which it would be comforting, knowing that something in the sky will outlive even the most overwhelming of his struggles, but did Niles have to add that part about the bones?

Niles laughs. “I prefer to think of it as ‘bracingly realistic’.”

“Well, I see what you mean, I guess. Maybe I’ll try that next time I can’t get back to sleep.”

“I hope it helps,” Niles replies, sounding unexpectedly genuine (although Takumi never expects him to say anything genuine, so perhaps that modifier’s unnecessary). “You certainly aren’t what I thought, are you? I expected a bratty little princeling without a care, not someone so… tormented.”

“Hey, I’m not tormented,” says Takumi hotly, feeling blood rush to his cheeks. “They’re just nightmares. You just said you had them too. And are you saying you like me because I’ve got problems?”

Niles holds both arms up in an exaggerated shrug. “Maybe I’m tormented too. We can have a little broken-souls party. And I haven’t even said I like you. Getting ahead of yourself a little there, aren’t you? Are you projecting?” He holds out a hand to stop Takumi before he can protest. “Sorry, couldn’t resist. Hmmm, I wouldn’t put it in those words, but… I’ve never really been able to relate to perfect people. How would you feel, confronting someone who’s only ever been happy and has no idea how it feels to suffer? Would you actually want to spend time with them? Wouldn’t you be a little bitter?”

“Of course not,” says Takumi automatically, but a niggling feeling gnaws at his chest, telling him different. What about his siblings? They’ve all suffered, certainly, but they’ve grown past it, matured, gotten stronger (left him behind). And how does he feel about that? “Well… I wouldn’t be _proud_ of it,” he amends. 

“I never said I was proud of it. And I never claimed to be a good person,” Niles reminds him.

“You’re not that bad,” Takumi says slowly; it’s been his knee-jerk reaction over the past few conversations he’s had about Niles, but now he might be starting to understand what makes him say that. “Maybe you’re a little sadistic, or a lot sadistic-” Niles snorts- “but you’re not really what I thought, either. Maybe Leo was right when he said we had some things in common.”

“Lord Leo said that?” Niles raises an eyebrow. “Hmm, well. If that’s Lord Leo’s judgment, maybe we should try harder at this whole friends thing.”

“Maybe we should,” Takumi agrees. He feels like he has a better picture of Niles now- he’s a pretty bizarre person, and certainly not an angel, but… he understands Takumi even better than Takumi had thought, and he doesn’t seem to judge him for it. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt, to have a friend like that.”

“So… friends?” Niles extends a hand across the distance between them. It takes Takumi a second or two to realize that he’s offering another Nohrian handshake. Takumi scoots a little closer so he can reach Niles’s hand and takes it. 

Niles’s strong, confident grip feels more welcome this time; Takumi returns it in equal measure. “Friends,” he replies. “I’ll be in your care.”

“Ooh, you want me to take care of you? That’s perfectly all right. What desires shall I satisfy first?”

“ _Gods_ , no!” Takumi yelps. “I didn’t mean _that_ , it’s just a thing we say in Hoshido, you-” Lost for words that will convey the effect he has in mind, he settles for using both of his hands to splash a wave of water in Niles’s direction. Some of the droplets splash up to Niles’s face, making him splutter in a very satisfying way. 

“Heh, I always knew you were a feisty one,” Niles replies, amused, as he wipes water off his face. “Trying to drown me, since your Yumi’s not nearby?”

“No, I’m not going to drown you,” Takumi says, rolling his eyes. He thinks he’s getting a little more used to Niles’s teasing; perhaps all the practice really has had an effect. But he can’t have been expected to resist the urge to splash him when he had the perfect opportunity. “I just hoped that us being friends meant you would lay off the whole-” he waves his hand ineloquently in the air- “flirting thing.”

Niles chuckles. “Sorry to disappoint you there. I’m afraid the flirting thing is part of the whole Niles package. Although I think you’ll find I’m well-endowed enough to compensate.”

Takumi’s revenge for that is an even bigger splash of water, straight into Niles’s face. He belatedly wonders if Niles’s eyepatch minds getting wet. Oh well, if he wanted to keep it dry, he shouldn’t have brought it into the hot springs. “Say another word about your package and I’ll change my mind about drowning you.”

Niles wipes the water off his face again, smirk still firmly in place despite the stray water droplets dripping off his nose. “Ooh, you’re getting all hot and bothered now, aren’t you? Well, if you shove my head underwater, at least I’ll have a good view as I die.”

Takumi had somehow managed to put the fact that they’re essentially having a conversation while completely naked mostly out of his mind. He’s used to taking communal baths, anyway, and it’s not like Niles can actually see anything under all this water. That thought flies right out the window now, along with any stray remnants of his composure. “Oh, you- you pervert, don’t you _dare_ -” Lost for words, he responds with the biggest splash yet, a wave crashing over Niles’s face and slopping over the edges of the pool and onto the tiled floor around it. 

Takumi isn’t really sure if Niles is laughing or choking on some water; possibly, he’s doing both. Well, whether he’s honestly amused or honestly choking, at least it’s an unambiguously honest sound. “Gods, you are so fun,” Niles manages to gasp out after a few seconds. “You just want to solve every situation with violence, don’t you? Well, fine, if that’s the way you want to play it…” With startling suddenness, a wave of water is heading straight for Takumi’s face. The world seems to slow down such that he has just enough time to register how pretty it is, a shower of crystalline beads sparkling in the air; then it hits him, and it’s his own turn to gasp and splutter.

It takes him a few shell-shocked seconds to get himself together enough to respond, frantically swiping at the water in his eyes and pushing his newly-sodden hair out of his face. When he does, he feels a feral grin spread across his face. “Oh, it’s _on_.” Niles has no idea what he’s just unleashed. From a long acquaintance with Hinata (and Hinoka, before they reached the age where gender-segregated baths were appropriate, and Oboro, whenever they make time for a day at the beach), he feels confident in claiming that he’s the splash-fight champion of Hoshido, and probably of the whole continent. Who cares about princely dignity? He’s already threatened Niles’s life, told him about his nightmares, and blushed an unbecoming number of times in front of him, so it’s a little too late for any of that, anyway. Right now, all he wants to do is win. 

In short order, there’s practically more water outside the pool than in it. Water’s arcing through the air, sparkling like diamonds in the dim light before it lands with a splash and a shower of droplets. Laughter, taunts, and outraged yelps fill the air. If Takumi were thinking about things like this right now, he’d find himself surprised at just how much fun he’s having. When was the last time he enjoyed himself this much, or felt this free? It’s war time, every second of their time is important, and Prince Takumi can’t afford to do things like this too often. But… maybe Takumi, the regular person, needs to. And Niles has so much to hold against him already that Takumi doesn’t even need to care about adding another item to the list. For once, he can just relax.

“...Am I interrupting something?” 

The atmosphere stops dead about as suddenly as if Niles and Takumi had both just walked face-first into metal bars. The new voice in the room is one so clearly stern and used to commanding that Takumi finds himself automatically straightening to attention even before he turns to see who it belongs to.  
As it turns out, he recognizes the face immediately.

It’s Prince Xander.

Crown Prince Xander of Nohr.

Crown Prince Xander of Nohr, Commander of the Nohrian contingent of the army.

Crown Prince Xander of Nohr, Commander of the Nohrian contingent of the army, who has just walked in on him, Prince Takumi of Hoshido, having a splash fight with one of Prince Xander’s indirect subordinates.

Great.

( _Gods_ , Takumi hopes Prince Xander doesn’t slip on the floor, considering how slick it is.)

(Could anyone worse have possibly walked in on them?)

(...Well, at least it’s not Ryoma. He doesn’t want to have that conversation.)

“You’re not interrupting anything,” Takumi says hurriedly, fighting an absurd and inappropriate urge to giggle and hoping his face doesn’t reflect his current mental state.

“We were just getting to know each other better,” volunteers Niles. Takumi briefly shoots a shuriken-like glare at him- gods, how many wrong ways are there to take that, when they were clearly doing something very athletic in the water?- but at least he sounds vaguely chastened. Maybe even he is scared of Prince Xander. Takumi suspects everyone is. 

“Yes, and we were just leaving, actually,” says Takumi, pulling himself out of the water with his back to both Xander and Niles and wrapping a towel around himself with snake-like reflexes he seems to have developed from sheer panic. “At least, I was. Have a good night, Prince Xander.” He turns around to give Xander a bow of farewell, partially wobbly from all the water on the floor. _Gods_ , he hopes Ryoma never hears about this.

Xander’s brow is furrowed, although Takumi can’t tell if it’s from confusion or rage. Or maybe that’s a permanent furrow? Takumi tries to remember if he’s ever seen Xander smile. He’ll have to ask Leo if something like that is even possible. “I’m pleased to hear that, Prince Takumi. Building bonds between our armies might be the most important outcome of this war, even if we build them in, ah-” he looks down at the water on the floor, and Takumi can actually feel a part of himself shrivel and die from sheer embarrassment- “unconventional ways. Have a good night.”

“You too,” Takumi says, before remembering that he's already wished Xander goodnight, but deciding to cut his losses and make his escape as quickly as possible before he piles mistake on top of mistake and ends up committing some kind of Nohrian high etiquette treason. (Leo insists there’s no such thing as etiquette treason, but Takumi wouldn’t put it past the Nohrian court, from everything he’s heard of it.) 

He hurries out of the bath chamber, hearing splashing sounds behind him that might be Niles making a similar exit. He quickly collects the rest of his things, throws on a robe, and exits the hot springs, his face still on fire as the cool night air hits it. He’s getting uncomfortably used to running away from situations lately.

Well, there’s a bright spot, at least, he ponders (as soon as he’s safely back in his tent, with strict instructions to his retainers to please, please, not let anyone in, especially not any eldest princes of Nohr or anyone who’s had any conversations with said eldest princes). He’s doing a lot of running away, recently, but at least this time he wasn’t running away from Niles. Well, not directly, anyway. Niles is… well, he’s still not sure what to call Niles, even with the endless talking and thinking and subconscious processing it feels like he’s been doing about the other man. Can Takumi trust him at all? What will he do now that he knows even more of Takumi’s weaknesses? Is he a friend, truly? Takumi still can’t tell, not really, no matter how much time he seems to spend banging his head against a metaphorical wall trying to figure it out. But maybe it doesn't matter right now. All he knows is that Niles seems more like a friend today than he did yesterday. For today, that’s enough. And next time Takumi sees him, he doesn’t think he’ll be running away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does it count as a slow burn if they become friends decently quickly but you take a million years between updates
> 
> I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! I'll see you in another 8 months (although I sincerely hope it'll be less than that)!

**Author's Note:**

> I SWEAR THEY'RE GOING TO GET TOGETHER IN THE END I SWEAR IT'S NOT GOING TO BE ENEMY CENTRAL FOREVER PLEASE BEAR WITH ME
> 
> I have about two more chapters' worth of this written right now and am still writing, so I'm going to update two weeks apart until my backlog runs out, in which case I will update whenever I mobilize myself enough to get a new chapter written. I would guess the final length will be about six chapters, but I'm also a very bad guesser, so we'll have to see! 
> 
> If you want to come scream at me about Takuniles (or Leoniles, or Leokumi, or Leokuminiles- I'm extremely flexible) my Twitter is [@iwaoiaesthetic](https://twitter.com/iwaoiaesthetic)! Also, shoutout to my dearest darlingest [@PeaceSignTooru](https://twitter.com/peacesigntooru), who gave me plenty of moral support during the writing and also wrote the summary for me, since I'm unbelievably awful at summaries!


End file.
